Bowness T'ej:
My recipe for Ethiopian honey wine
T'ej, pronounced "T'ej", is Ethiopian honey wine. It's sweet, tart, effervescent, refreshing, and magical.
T'ej making is an ancient East-African tradition at least as old as the western tradition of making mead. It is customary to lump it into the familiar category of "mead", but it is not mead. T'ej comes from a different cultural tradition, the process is different, and the flavour is different. It is typically made with a specific occasion in mind, and meant to be consumed fresh.
Traditionally, T'ej in Ethiopia is made by the women, using family recipes passed from mother to daughter. The same tradition exists in neighboring Eritrea, where the drink is called "Mes" (Pronounced Mez). While acknowledging the Eritrean equivalent, I'm going to be using the more common recognized Ethiopian name.
My journey started with making mead in the 90s. I was studying History at university, and making mead seemed like a historian-appropriate thing for an amateur brewew to do. In 2004, I made mead for my wedding. It was one of the best batches I've ever made, and 100 people enjoyed it at our reception. (I eventually divorced anyhow, so please don't believe the hype about mead and marriage.)
By 2010, mead making had lost its charm and I was seeming something new. Eventually I came across Harry Kloman's article, "How to make T'ej". Harry's article contains many cultural notes, and is also worth reading.
Over the course of several years I made repeated attempts at trying Harry's recipe. It never turned out as I expected. I'd never actually tasted T'ej before, which made it challenging to gauge success. In 2016 I managed to *finally* try Ethiopian-made T'ej, and it was very different than what I'd been making at home. The flavour of the drink helped me see what I was doing wrong: I was unconsciously trying to make T'ej like I would make mead. I was missing the nuances of Harry's recipe, and infecting my T'ej-making process with Mead-making assumptions.
Once I let those assumptions go, I was able to start making decent T'ej.
Overview of materials and process:
Making T'ej is as much as a process, as it is a recipe. It's not simply a matter of throwing the right ingredients together, and waiting the right amount of time - It is best served by an understanding of what to do when, and why. This recipe will include a lot of background notes on the process, as understanding the "Why" will lead to a better outcome.
Having previous brewing experience will help.
The things you'll need to obtain:
- 2 KG Honey or wax cappings
- 1 Pack Lalvin 1118 Yeast
- a 5 Gallon strainer Bag
- a 1 Gallon decanter (And optionally, an additional one)
- 1 Funnel
- About 1 lbs of the Ethiopian herb, "Gesho".
An overview of the process: T'ej is best made in one gallon decanters with a lid that is almost air-tight. The ingredients are Honey, Yeast, and the Ethiopian herb "Gesho". After starting the batch, more honey continues to be added on a weekly basis, continuing fermentation, and increasing the alcohol content. It can be consumed any time after a couple of weeks, but the longer it is fermented, the stronger it will be.
Background notes and explanation: Wax cappings are a waste-output of honey extraction, often used by beekeepers to make mead. If you're not a beekeeper, any honey will do. Traditional recipes use the natural yeast present on the Gesho, but Lalvin 1118 yeast will provide a more consistent outcome. If you want to do it more authentic, you are welcome to forego the Lalvin Yeast, and just use the Gesho's natural yeast. Strainer bags can be obtained at brew stores, paint stores, or big box construction stores. Gesho can be obtained from most Ethiopian stores. 1 Gallon decanters can be found at thrift stores or at Wal-Mart. Screw are preferred over plug caps, as they give a better seal. For plug-type caps, a seal can be added to the plug-lid by wrapping elastic bands around the plug.
Understanding the fermentation process, and how it relates to making T'ej:
Fermentation is a simple and straightforward process: Yeast consumes a sugar, creating CO2, Alcohol, and more little yeasties. The sugar can come from grain, fruit, honey, etc. - yeast isn't picky. The process continues until it either the yeasties run out of sugar, or get poisoned when the alcohol level gets too high. (Relentless consumption until drowning own poisons is a great metaphor of humanity, but never mind that).
In the beginning, the presence of O2 helps the yeast make more yeasties. We call this "Primary fermentation" in conventional brewing. As fermentation progresses, O2 will react with Alcohol to create vinegar. Typically this is prevented by moving from an open to a sealed container after a week or two. Fermenting in the sealed container is called secondary fermentation. These vessels use an airlock cap that allows the CO2 to escape, while preventing the O2 from getting in. The escaping gas creates "positive pressure", providing further protection against O2 coming in.
We've introduced the traditional brewing concepts of Primary vs Secondary fermentation, but here's where it gets interesting:
*making T'ej involves a hybrid process that balances the techniques and benefits of both primary and secondary fermentation*.
Please re-read the above statement, because it is the magical key to making magical T'ej.
Week 1: Starting your T'ej
Ingredients and materials:
- 2 KG Honey or wax cappings
- 1 Pack Lalvin 1118 Yeast
- 5 Gallon strainer Bag
- 1 Gallon decanter
- Funnel
- One cup of the Ethiopian herb, "Gesho".
- Wooden spoon.
Directions:
Fill decanter halfway with water, place strainer bag in decanter, using elastics to affix to the rim.
Using the funnel, pour your honey or cappings into the strainer bag.
Pour the cup of gesho sticks into strainer bag. Sprinkle yeast on top, but do not stir.
Fill with water, leaving 2" of headroom.
Loosly place cap on decanter.
Note: In these photos the decanter has a strainer insert, which serves the same purpose as a strainer bag.
Background notes and explanation: Sprinkling the yeast on top of the water exposes it to both moisture and oxygen, giving it the best head start. The Gesho acts as a bittering and flavoring agent, similar to hops in beer. It should not stay in more than a 7-10 days, or it will impart an "off" flavor. This first week will be rapid "primary fermentation". There will be a "Rush" of fermentation, and we want to leave the lid loose to allow the resulting CO2 to escape. In rough terms, one can estimate 1KG of honey in 1 Gallon of water will result in 1% of Alcohol.
Week 2:
Ingredients and materials:
- Wooden Spoon
- 1 KG of honey.
- Another decanter (Optional)
Directions:
Give contents of strainer bag a gentle stir, and remove strainer bag containing gesho stick and cappings if you used cappings instead of liquid honey.
Ensure all of the Gesho is removed. Transferring into a second decanter is an easy way to ensure the Gesho is removed.
Contents of strainer bag can be recycled or disposed as you like.
Use funnel to pour in honey. Stir. Top up decanter with lukewarm water, leaving 1" of headroom.
Gently stir, and replace cap. Seal mostly, but not completely.
Note: Pictures below indicate transfer to another decanter. Concept is the same if using one. Key is to remove Gesho/cappings and add more honey.
Background notes and explanation: Your T'ej should be a cloudy orange color, similar to orange juice. At this point, initial explosive fermentation will slow down to a crawl. Ensure that all of the Gesho is removed, or will create an off taste.
Weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: Hybrid fermentation.
Ingredients and Materials:
A funnel
Half of a KG of honey
An empty honey jar.
Directions:
Create room to add honey by draining a cup or so into the honey jar. Drink it. You've earned it!
Add honey with funnel.
Remove funnel, stir gently, and top up with water leaving 1/2" headroom, and replace cap tightly.
*Repeat this step for all subsequent weeks* 4 weeks total is typical and gives the best result for me.
Background notes and explanation. We're in the slow-burn phase of fermentation now. In typical "Secondary fermentation", we would not be opening and adding more fermentable sugars. In this case, we're adding a little honey, and exposing to a little oxygen. By capping tightly, we reduce oxygen coming in, and by adding the honey, we're boosting fermentation, which generates CO2 to push the oxygen out. A completely air-tight seal is not desirable, but restricting air flow will increase effervescence, and prevent the T'ej from getting too tart. Ideally, at the end of each week, the T'ej should have reached a state of slightly-sweetness. If it's very sweet, that means it's not fermenting fast enough, so consider adding a little less honey. If it's tart, that means fermentation has slowed enough to let oxygen in, so consider adding a little more. Any of these weeks, you can end this process and consume your T'ej. The longer you keep this up, the higher the alcohol content, but also potentially the higher the tartness. It's a balancing act, and you can feel it out according to your own taste.
Miscellaneous notes:
On Storing: T'ej is intended to be drank fresh, and not stored. It is not shelf-stable, and will spoil. Theoretically, it could be made shelf-stable with preservatives such as Campden tablets, but this would violate the spirit of the process, and I have not tried. Cold-crashing may be a technique worth attempting if one really needs to preserve.
Credit where credit is due: The random Ethiopians I've ambushed on the street and asked to drink my attempts at T'ej, and their encouraging words. And thank you to Girmay the Eritrean beekeeper for being particularly encouraging. And of course, Harry Kloman, whose writings got this whole ball rolling.
And finally, gratitude to participants in my Aug 2023 T'ej Making workshop:
